Lily and the Marauders and the Mysterious Books
by PixieFlight25014
Summary: Lily and the Marauders find out about the Harry Potter series. They are reading the first book. Rated T for mild swearing and sexual innuendos. Please read and review!
1. Prologue

Lily Evans walked down to the common room, the first day of the Christmas holidays. She snuggled down into a comfortable armchair and opened _Hogwarts, A History_ to read. No sooner had she become comfortable had an owl tapped on the glass of the common room window. Lily let the owl in, realizing it was her owl, Hedwig. Enclosed in Hedwig's beak was a note from Professor Dumbledore, which stated that Lily should come to the Headmaster's office with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin and that the password was Licorice Wand. She groaned, realizing that the three boys were her least favorite.

After telling the boys, who accompanied her, she was asked by James- no Potter, sorry,- to go out with him. She smirked and said, "Not this time, Potter."

When they arrived in the headmaster's office, Dumbledore wasn't there. Soon, the boys began to poke around his office, with nothing better to do. Lily was looking through his library and stopped when she saw a set of seven books. As she read the titles, she realized they were about a boy named Harry. Harry Potter. "James?" she called. "Do you have a relative named Harry?"

He came over, saying, "No, why?" His gang of boys followed.

As Lily explained the situation, James, Sirius, and Remus took the book set and Remus ran off to put them in his dormitory.

"You weren't supposed to steal from the headmaster!" said Lily, her hands on her hips.

"Don't get your knickers in a knot, we'll return them later. Plus, there's a sign on his desk saying to come back after Christmas holidays. Now, let's go. I want to find out who this Harry character is."


	2. The Boy Who Lived

"HOW COULD YOU TAKE DUMBLEDORE'S BOOKS? YOU IDIOT! WE COULD BE EXPELLED OR WORSE, GET DETENTION!" screamed Lily at the top of her lungs.

"Relax, we'll read them and return them," said James.

"Reading during break? What's happening to you, James?" Sirius said dramatically.

"Shut up Sirius, please. We're all curious and want to read the book! I kind of feel bad for stealing from Dumbledore. Let's just read it and return it," Remus sighed, exasperatedly.

**"Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived,"** said Remus.

"Ooh, who did he survive? And who is he?" said Sirius.

"Shut up and we'll find out," huffed Lily, upset that she was breaking rules.

"**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense,"**

"Someone's got a secret, I bet. 4 galleons, James?" said Sirius.

"Oh my god, we read the first two sentences and you're trying to predict what's gonna happen. SHUT UP!" screamed Lily.

"My ears! Gosh woman, chill," said Sirius.

"**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache."**

"No way, that can't be..." Lily whispered.

"Who?" all three boys asked.

"Never mind, go on."

"**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours."**

"That's my sister and her pig of a boyfriend!" said Lily.

"Why is there a book concerning her and what does that have to do with me?" said James.

"**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister,"**

"WHAT?" screamed Lily. "THIS BOOK MUST HAVE IT WRONG! THERE'S NO WAY I MARRIED AN ARROGANT TOERAG NAMED JAMES POTTER!"

James, however, was frozen, his jaw dropped.

"Is Harry your son?" teased Sirius. "Everyone knows how a baby is made..."

James got his voice back and unfroze, saying, "Shut up, Sirius. Remus, continue please."

"**but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be."**

"Looks like nothing's changed." muttered Lily.

"GOOD FOR NOTHING? I'M NOT GOOD FOR NOTHING? I'M HANDSOME AND BETTER THAN THAT FAT PIG OF A HUSBAND! LOOK AT MY SEXINESS!" exploded James.

"Gosh James, this is why you're an arrogant toerag. Maybe I won't marry you." Lily smirked.

"NOO! I'm sorry LILY! FORGIVE ME?" James pleaded.

Lily rolled her eyes, saying,"Fine. Remus, continue."

"**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that."**

"Hehe, you guys did it! Hehe! And I bet your son is better than Dudley, he's got Lily and James for parents, and he isn't a lump of fat, he's a stick, looking at his parents!'' Sirius chuckled.

Both Lily and James started blushing. Remus took this as his cue to keep reading.

"**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country."**

They were all thinking if that had to do with the wizard population, but nobody said anything.

"**Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work,"**

"I would wear a tie that sings!" Sirius said.

"They sell those in muggle stores," said Lily.

"NO WAY! BUY ME ONE!" said Sirius.

"**and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window."**

They all looked around nervously, knowing that shouldn't happen in a muggle neighborhood.

"**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar- a cat reading a map."**

"MinMin!" screamed Sirius.

Lily glared at him, and he shut up.

"**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen- then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. "What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day."**

"That's definitely MinMin!" yelled Sirius, immaturely.

**"But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks."**

"Muggles don't wear cloaks," Lily said, cocking her head.

**"Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by."**

"Oi!" yelled Sirius.

Everyone massaged their ears, and silently agreed to read on.

"**They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!"**

Everyone realized that those were wizards, breaking the International Statue of Secrecy!

"**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor."**

"How does he look at nature and it's beauty?" Sirius said, dramatically.

"**If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery."**

Sirius snickered, saying, "Of course he'd walk to buy himself food. How could anyone be happy after screaming at people? "

The other three were aghast. "WHAT ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL STATUE OF SECRECY? WHAT'S UP WITH THE MINISTRY?"

**"He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.'The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry,' Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it."**

"Why are we mentioned?" said Lily and James.

**" He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking..."**

"Must of been hard to DASH across the road, he probably power-walked." Sirius said, cowering under Lily's glare.

"**no, he was being stupid."**

Sirius snickered,"Haha, captain obvious."

**"Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold."**

"Bloody hell, who names their kid HARVEY or HAROLD?" said Remus.

"I wouldn't," said Lily and James simultaneously.

"**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that... but all the same, those people in cloaks... He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door."Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!" And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off."**

"YOU-NO-POO's GONE?" said Sirius, questioningly.

"YES! HE'S GONE!" they all celebrated.

"M**r. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes."**

"How does McGonagall do it? Sitting on a wall all day?" said Sirius.

Lily rolled her eyes and huffed for him to shut up.

**"'Shoo!' said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look."**

"MinMin rules!" said Sirius.

"Hehe, I want to see that fat pig's face," chuckled James.

"**Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife. ****Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!")."**

"Hehe! Had had!" yelled Sirius.

"It's grammatically correct!" huffed Lily, annoyed at him acting like a first year.

"**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: "And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "****Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?" ****"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain.**

"Frozen because he's too fat to move!" Sirius chuckled.

Lily chuckled inwardly.

**"Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...Mrs. Dursley came into the living-room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?" **

**As he expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought... maybe ... it was something to do with ... you know ... her lot."**

Lily sniffled. It was then the boys knew to comfort her, James hugging her tightly.

"

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name 'Potter'.**

**He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."''**

"It's better than Dudley..." said James, snickering.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it was waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things?**

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did ... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind ... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on. He yawned and turned over. It couldn't affect them ...**

**How very wrong he was."**

"Dumbledore's bringing him to the DURSLEYS!" Lily exclaimed. "They'll treat him like a nobody!"

"**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed in the next street, nor when the two owls swooped overhead. ****In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all."**

"Typical McGonagall," said Remus.

**"A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground.**

**The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had been seen in Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

******He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore."**

**"**That wasn't hard to guess," said Sirius seriously.

**"Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known." ****He had found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. ****It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

"I WANT ONE!" yelled Sirius.

"Shut up!" yelled Lily back.

**"He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him.**

**If anyone looked out of their window now, even the beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat.**

**He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall.""**

All of them looked at each other, wondering why Dumbledore was on a Muggle street.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff too if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls ... shooting stars ... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

"Stupid, but understandable," muttered James.

"**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes swapping rumours."**

"About my son." James said. "And Lily and I."

**"She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on: "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"**

**"A what?"**

**"A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for sherbet lemons.**

**"As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like your self can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." **

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was un-sticking two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice.**

**"It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's ****name."**

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," recited Lily.

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the one You-Know - oh, all right, Voldemort was frightened of"**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"Classic Dumbledore," the four chuckled.

**"Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?" It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.**

**It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.**

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead." **

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James ... I can't believe it ... I didn't want to believe it ... Oh, Albus ..."**

"WHAT!?" yelled all four students.

"NO WAY!" yelled James and Lily.

"Well, now that we know, can we change what happened?" said Lily logically.

"I guess," muttered a surprised James.

It took a half hour for the two to calm down.

**"But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."**

James said "Always knew my son would be powerful."

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done ... all the people he's killed ... he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding ...of all the things to stop him ... but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"we can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

******Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took out a watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

Lily and James began crying, knowing that they were dead, their parents were dead, and their child had no family except for the wizard-hating Dursleys.

**"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't."**

"**I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!" **

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him!****He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!"**

"Why doesn't Dumbledore take Harry? Or Sirius, or Remus?" said James.

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"Doesn't need to be as arrogant as his father," Remus and Sirius snickered.

"

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course.****But how is the boy getting here Dumbledore?"**

**She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore."**

"GO HAGRID!" yelled Sirius.

Lily rolled her eyes again.

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that? "****If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets."**

"I want a motorbike," complained Sirius.

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorbike?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it me."**

"Yay! I have one! Why didn't I bring Harry?"

"Shut up."

"**I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we were flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning."**

"Poor kid, inherited James's hair!" snickered Remus.

**"Is that where - ?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar for ever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say goodbye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid.**

**He bent his great shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.**

**Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog."**

"Aww..." said Lily.

"At this rate, just have the baby already!" Sirius exasperatedly said.

Lily and James glared at Sirius.

**'"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!' ****"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and**  
**burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead****- an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**  
**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or ****we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly**  
**on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to ****the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out**  
**of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to ****the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at**  
**the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall ****blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from**  
**Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out."**

None of the teenagers said anything, the mood somber.

"I've never seen Dumbledore's twinkle go out," murmured Sirius.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying ****here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**  
**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his ****bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**  
**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself ****onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose**  
**into the air and off into the night."**

"My motorcycle is awesome," Sirius said dreamily.

The others snickered.

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, ****nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. ****Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he ****stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and**  
**twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet ****Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking ****around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the****bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**  
**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish ****of his cloak, he was gone.  
**"I can't believe he just left Harry on Petunia's doorstep. She's going to be evil to him, I just know it," said Lily.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and ****tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect**  
**astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his ****blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside ****him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was ****famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. ****Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk ****bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and ****pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very ****moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up ****their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy ****who lived!"**

"HOW DARE DUDLEY DO SO!" yelled James.

"Calm down," Lily sighed.

"And that's the end of the chapter," said Remus.

Lily stomped up to her room, pondering the fact that she and James had gotten together. The past few weeks, her dreams had gotten stranger and stranger, as if she loved Potter- but no, she couldn't. He was Potter and she was Evans, and they were never meant to be.

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry about the long hiatus! School is school :(. Reviews make me happy and urge me to upload a really long chapter :D. Hint hint!


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